Destructive Matters
by RakdosDragon
Summary: A very young recruit is thrust into battle with an opponent that the army seems to have underestimated. This story was written around three years ago, so the quality is quite low. Warning: OCs, complete ignorance of actual universe, permanently unfinished
1. Chapter 1

Destructive Matters

One

1337

"A raid?" the young man asked in surprise to his orders. Ceom, a zoid pilot from the north-west outskirts of New Helic City wondered why he had been chosen for a strike team. He was slightly short for his age, had brown hair, green eyes, and he usually had a look of calm on his face, however this was not one of those times. "Do you know why?" he asked his friend. She was somewhat taller then he and she had much darker hair, however they were around the same age with her being slightly older. The two were on friendly terms, discarding the normal military talk when not in that setting.

"No. I don't know why, they just told me to assemble three small teams of zoids."

"How strange, it just seems like a bunch of raiders, they haven't even done anything illegal in recent months."

"That's why it's called the military, the higher-ups don't say much about their big plans."

"I understand, is there anything else?

"Yes. I'm assigning you to the insertion team; also I need someone to set up the high-energy phazon cannon and someone to scout for an insertion point."

The high-energy phazon cannon was an experimental heavy artillery weapon which was easy to produce and the shells it fired only needed to go through a low-energy process to refuel them. The downside to this behemoth was that it took several hours to set up.  
"I'll do the scouting. I'll use one of those high speed Sinker zoids we have at the base."

"Sure. Just don't get spotted."

"That's why I'm not going to take the neon-green one."

"Okay. Well just be back later for the Opp. Briefing, Ceom."

"See you there Kara." She walked to the doors and left, off to find someone to run the high-energy phazon cannon most likely.

Ceom looked over the aerial photographs of the target and he wrote out a scout plan to check the target for any weaknesses. The compound was built into a small plateau that was just sitting in the middle of the desert. The base was mostly built with the plateau over it so an aerial assault would only allow access to the front quarter of the base. One of the walls seemed to not be as thick as the others and Ceom noted this in his report, and he noted to check it in his scout run.

It was bizarre that the military had taken sudden interest in such a small bunch of rag-tag bandits. The hideout was used for smugglers and other illegal activities although the in recent years the activities had dwindled to almost nothing. There was something definitely strange about this whole situation.

After he had finished his scout plan he headed for the elevators which were on the west side of the building, overlooking the desert sunset. This elevator was a normal military grade, high weight class, and sturdy, but this particular one had a glass panel instead of a wall. As an extra project, as well as for something to do, the soldiers had placed a heavily reinforced glass plate so one could see incoming attacks.

The true reason of this modification, however, was to have a great view of the desert sunsets. Ceom looked at the great view out the glass walled elevator before hitting the button marked H4 and allowing the car to plunge downward to the underground levels.

Soon the car was lowered beneath ground level and the sunset was replaced with the first hangar level where the flight zoids were held. There were three rows of zoids two of which were Storm Sorters and the other row consisted of Raynos.

The next level held the Liger class zoids, mainly Shield Ligers, of which were painted Republic White. There were two Snipe Ligers housed there as well.

The third level housed the artillery squadrons and repair stations. This level contained many Cannon Tortoises with heavy bombardment cannons. The other zoid here in large quantities was the Command Wolf Juggernaut, a powerful zoid sporting massive cannons and high powered rifles.

The final level consisted of the specialized and other kinds of zoids. This level was quite empty because the Republic rarely issued zoids of theses types. Many of these zoids were expensive because they were not produced in massive quantities. The majority of these zoids were owned by the people who lived at the compound. As the elevator descended further there was a good view of a line of three high-speed class Sinkers. After a couple of seconds a larger zoid blocked the others, it was a large Dark Horn with the Republic insignia painted on its sides. This zoid was one of the high-energy phazon cannon's guards. This Dark Horn was outfitted with two large Vulcan cannons and a low-powered beam sniper rifle. Ceom walked past the Dark Horn and several other zoids. After a few more paces across the metallic floor he came to a computer terminal and he transferred his data disk that contained a fully detailed scout plan of the target.

His last pass by the compound was to scan the weakened wall of the base. The scanning equipment required a close pass. This would normally be a dangerous mission, however the cloaking equipment onboard the scout Sinker would allow Ceom to make the pass. If Ceom went too fast it ruin the cloaking and the zoid would stick out. The first two runs along the south side and north-west sides of the base would be from a long distance. The onboard high resolution camera would take excellent pictures of the enemy compound even from a huge distance. Ceom also noted in the logs that he would be under anti-targeting equipment the entire time, as well as full radio silence. Ceom allowed the computer to process the information and it showed a list of zoid numbers along with their launch times.

He selected the time placement he wanted and he noticed that the high-energy phazon cannon crew had already left. Ceom looked back towards the Dark Horn that was one of the cannon's main guards.

The Dark Horn was still by the elevator.

Ceom looked over the cannon crew again and saw that three command wolves and a shield liger were assigned to the crew last minute. Kara did not usually change her assignments for missions and the Dark Horn had specialized close and medium range weaponry suited for guarding the cannon.

Ceom would have to remember to ask her why she made the change so late. He thought about this as he walked to the high-speed Sinker. He used the small pilot ladder to get into the low to the ground zoid and he dropped into the cockpit. He turned the low power 'taxi' engine that drove the zoid in and out of the hangar. The wheels protruding from the zoid's underside started to roll and Ceom steered them from a drop down console that was like a miniature steering wheel. He proceeded to the zoid lift that took the Sinker zoid to the third hangar level where the main exit and entry doors were located for the entire compound's land zoids. The main runways for the aerial zoids were located in a zone connected to the first hangar level. Ceom was cleared to leave the Republic base he wheeled the zoid to the main gate and started the main zoid engines. The hover jets instantly flared to life. When the hovercraft's main engines the weight off the wheels, they retracted into the zoid and the main propulsion jets kicked in, moving the zoid slowly forward. Ceom got the secondary 'green light' and he ran a few final checks. He proceeded to push the accelerator forward just enough to clear the hangar. Shortly afterward he activated the boosters on the back of the zoid. The change from slow to fast was instantaneous that the small hovercraft shot from the compound, past the auxiliary gate, and into the vast desert.


	2. Chapter 2

TWO

1478

Ceom pressed in the auto-pilot button on the console. He leaned back taking his hands off the controls and his feet off the pedals. The target was almost in range. Ceom would have to activate the stealth equipment soon. The Sinker launched off a small dune and the back flaps on the zoid extended outward a large distance causing it to glide for about one-hundred yards. The zoid still in flight was propelled by the engines and it slowly dropped towards the desert sands again. Ceom looked around, pulled pack the throttle, pushed in the constant holotech stealth armor button, and he switched his radar to passive mode.

This zoid's control layout was different to many other zoids of the Sinker class. Its entire right panel was devoted to spy equipment such as the cloaking system and a specialized system to make the zoid's exhaust trail look like a strong breeze over the desert sands. The zoids computer would notify Ceom when they had reached the compound.

Kara had assembled the strike team, the sniper team, and the entry team. The bandits could not have more than five zoids. A single sniper team and the heavy weaponry zoids could destroy such a group of zoids easily.

She left the large common room leaving Ceom some aerial photographs of the target. He scooped them up and began his report and scout plan. She reached the log in/ log out computer and she filed her mission plans. As she inserted the disk into the slot, then she opened the file and pressed a few buttons and hit the save key. She entered her special Command Wolf IT and she walked it over to the lift pad.

This Command Wolf was a dusky red, gray and black as a normal Command Wolf IT. The zoid was armed with a Heavy Long Range Cannon, as well as a heavy pulse cannon. The zoid had a couple of minor changes from the normal stock. It was out fitted with an AMS (anti-missile system) and a large targeting computer. The zoid's joints had been worked on recently because they were in need of a repair after the last couple of crazy battles Kara had been through.

She got conformation that the other members of the cannon crew were leaving at the same time. She also heard that the Gustav with the assembly package and the cannon itself was being readied. The Gustav also had a second cart with Erous, Ceom's Trinity Liger. The zoid was raised to the third level to meet the other members of the team. There were three Command Wolves – one of them a Command Wolf Juggernaut – and a Shield Liger. The zoids were able to march out of the base side by side in a slow pace with the Gustav with the cannon behind them. Behind the entire party was the Command Wolf Juggernaut to provide artillery fire if it was needed. They would reach the setup site a few hours after dusk. After a couple of minutes another zoid, a Sinker, shot by the small convoy. Kara guessed that it was Ceom going to do the scout run; he would be finished long before they had reached the setup location. He would relay if there were any zoids from the base running around that they should look out for. Kara set the zoid to auto pilot and she looked over the little intelligence she had received.

After two hours of straight movement over the desert plains A monitor of text appeared on-screen.

Conditions Reached.

Enter Password:

Kara entered the password quickly. The screen blinked and the program ended. Shortly afterward the radar display showed a blip farther ahead. She looked closer at the display as the scanning bar swung back to the spot she had seen the blip. The bar passed over the spot.

Nothing.

There was nothing out there. She signaled the entire convoy with a system of short light flashes that were directed backward to become more alert. The system of flashes was a crude code that was linked to a form of Morse Code. The passive radar monitor immediately gleamed with the entire convoy's radar pings.

Suddenly after a long pause the radar display gleamed again. There was definitely something out there. Kara signaled the rest of the convoy and they all responded. There was suddenly a blast of light, the radar system responded,

"Incoming missiles."

"We are approaching the target. Warning, approaching destination." The computer chimed in a strangely friendly female voice. Ceom reached forward, set his feet back on the pedals, and pressed the auto-pilot button. Suddenly there was a jolt to the right and Ceom slammed to the side of the harness. He pressed a couple of buttons on the right side panel and a zoid wreck appeared in the right upper corner of the zoid canopy 'screen'. The sinker zoid had collided with the zoid and it had not registered on the radar.

"Odd." Ceom said as he looked the zoid over. The wreck looked like a feline zoid, but one that he had never seen. He shut off the rear camera with a touch of a button, and he pulled the throttle back further.

The first two runs past the base were short and quite uneventful. The high-resolution imaging camera had taken well over fifty pictures and they were stored into the computer bank of the zoid. He continued until he reached a point were he had to use a different piece of equipment to view the base. He came to a full stop and opened the side panel and pushed it forward, it covered the motion controls and revealed a complex set of instruments and another view screen. This was the Industrial 19Ceom Photo-electromagnetic Resonance Imager. It allowed a person to view the internal structure of a building, or the terrain cave, or even the surface an undersea crater. To use this device one had to stay still and allow the device to swing its scanning arc over its target, it was invisible of course, but it had several drawbacks. The machine could only penetrate so far into a target and it required several minutes to receive a clear picture. After a few minutes he continued his run and stopped on the other side of the base where he did this again. After the third scan he closed the secondary panel for the third time and his eyes fell on the main panel. The screen suddenly changed colors quickly and it read in a faint odd font:  
Receiving Data.

The screen flashed again and now it read quite clearly,

Acquiring Target.

"Now, what does that mean?" Ceom said confused. Again the screen changed and now read: 'Target acquired, launching heavy weaponry'.

"No!" Ceom cried in surprise his fingers flying over to the weapon console. He slammed in the abort missile launch button.  
"3" The computer's automated voice chimed in.

"Why is it set to count down?" Ceom slammed the console with his fist; there was no response from the computer.

"2" Ceom slammed the abort button again.

"1 and firing." Ceom reached under the console and pulled out the wires connecting the fire control to the main console. There was a short pause:  
Nothing.

Then suddenly the zoid shook, and a large spinning projectile shot forward from the Sinker.  
"Great, I only stopped one of them." Ceom said watching the projectile. It flew forward into the wall of the compound he was scouting. There was a huge bright flash of light and the weakened wall of the compound was engulfed in flame. The wall cracked upward from the impact of the shell and the explosion ripped the wall apart. Flame rushed upward through the cracks and a great flare erupted upward into the night sky.  
"Warning! Enemy scanners targeting this zoid!" The computer stated. Ceom noted that the stealth protection was still up.  
"Let them try." Ceom said. After a minute of dead retreat the compound's lights and firing towers came online. The lights arched over the Sinker and a barrage of Vulcan gun weaponry slammed into the armor and the sands around the zoid.  
"Stealth systems failing. Incoming zoids, targeting systems are active." Ceom slammed the throttle forward.  
"How could they hit me?" Ceom pressed a few buttons and the upper right of the cockpit showed a view from the rear camera.

The view showed a large zoid, a Dark Horn emerging from the flames. It had a large missile rack on its back. The massive zoid stopped moving and a missile launched off the end of the rack and came swiftly after the Sinker.

It came closer.

And closer.

The throttle was in all the way.

The missile was still closing.

The automatic defensive system launched a heat decoy.

The missile did not deviate, it was still coming.


	3. Chapter 3

THREE

1230

The Command Wolf's anti-missile system activated and a large spray of metal particles shot into the path of the missiles. The missiles flew into the metal and many exploded. The other zoids in the convoy responded with their own flak cannons obliterating the remaining missiles. The convoy halted and the combat zoids rushed forward to secure a perimeter in front of the Gustav.

The Command Wolf Juggernaut, however, held its ground in the back of the convoy. It fired back with its mass of artillery. The shells were well placed and only a few of them landed slightly off target. The zoid was immersed in a blaze of flames as the other zoids also launched their weaponry at the enemy zoid. Even after the mass of concentrated fire the zoid did not stop firing. A new wave of missiles was launched from the mystery zoid.  
"What can withstand so many attacks and yet still be able to fire volley after volley of missiles?" Kara wondered aloud. She signaled to continue the attack as she broke the convoy and ran forward and to the left. The night sands were still and the moons were not casting their glow over the deserts because they where in their new moon phase. She began to turn again to the right and for a split second before there was a flash of explosions she saw a zoid. It seemed to be a Gunsniper class zoid but its sniper barrel was retracted and it was outfitted with countless missile pods. Kara aimed her heavy long range cannon at the zoid and pulled the trigger.

It missed.

"How did that happen?!" Kara exclaimed. There was a sharp noise to Kara's left and an explosion as an explosive round impacted against the hull of the Command Wolf.

"What was that?" The pilot whipped the controls to the left as another crack of heavy weaponry echoed in the cockpit. The shot must have missed. Kara charged forward, flipping the radar on, getting a position, aiming, and firing the long range cannon at the enemy. She flipped the night vision switch and the center part of the cockpit window became brighter and an outline of a zoid was visible quite a distance away. The other zoid seemed to be a wolf type, but it had much weaker weaponry than Kara's Command Wolf IT. Kara fired another volley at the zoid and the weapon connected. The apposing zoid was thrown by the attack, but it started charging forward and as it did its upper turret rotated. The zoid fired a few rounds from its cannons, and Kara avoided the weapon fire. She aimed forward of the zoid's position and fired two quick shots. The first glanced off the shoulder of the zoid causing it to stumble forward and the last caught the zoid right behind its head. It continued to run, however, it abruptly shook before its forward legs failed and the entire zoid fell forward into the sands. The cockpit of the zoid crashed into the ground first with the rest of the zoid falling on top of that. The combat system of the other wolf zoid was definitely frozen.

Kara turned to face her previous target. There were explosions around the zoid as the others pounded it with weapons fire. The sniper seemed to have trouble aiming with the concentrated fire on it. Kara decided to attack so she pushed the throttle forward and faced toward the Gunsniper. She lined the zoid up in her targeting scanner and pulled the trigger twice in quick succession. The first seemed to go around the zoid to the left and the second shot curved around the zoid to the right.  
"Stop firing at that zoid with ranged weapons!" Kara cried out over the radio. As she said this, the concentrated fire on the zoid stopped abruptly and Kara's zoid charged forward. She lunged forward and slammed the wolf's claws into the side of the zoid and the zoid's teeth tore out the inner parts of the zoid. The Gunsniper fell to the side from the sudden attack and the side cannons pointed upward at the Command Wolf IT. They fired in a feudal attempt to stop the wolf from tearing it to small fragments. The wolf simply knocked the light cannons off the chassis of the zoid with a flick of the claws. One of the missile pods on the side of the zoid turned slightly and fired a missile upward at the wolf.

"That missile couldn't hit me, but then...." Kara wondered aloud. On instinct she jumped backward and as she did so the missile went straight into the Gunsniper. She had avoided the missile's second pass.

"What an interesting trick." Kara laughed, "Too bad it didn't work." Kara began to head back toward the convoy.  
"Lieutenant! There are two more of them advancing on our position." a member of the convoy called over the radio.

"Stay there, this is strange, there shouldn't be four zoids on patrol, our Intel only showed that they patrol in pairs." Kara called back to the other pilot.

"Yeah. I guess, they might have had two pairs near each other." Kara narrowed the gap between her and the convoy. She made out that the two enemy zoids were Guysacks and they seemed to be aiming for the Gustav. One quickly exploded into flame as three shots slammed into its hull. The last zoid charged toward Kara after spotting her. The Guysack's pincer shot forward catching the wolf by the leg. Kara pulled back on the targeting joystick and pulled the trigger. The heavy cannon hit the scorpion zoid right on the back and it released its hold. Kara proceeded to rip the zoid apart with the wolf's jaws. Suddenly the rear cannon on the Guysack pointed toward the Command Wolf. Kara jumped backward to evade the blast, but it still caught the wolf on the left of its underside. The Command Wolf Juggernaut released a powerful volley of missiles at the scorpion zoid. The Guysack scared for its life proceeded to bury itself in the desert sands. Kara's zoid escaped the range of the missiles as they slammed into the ground with a tremendous explosion. The smoke cleared over the small crater and large chunks of Guysack slightly encased in sand littered the bottom of the depression.

"Okay. Is everyone alright?" Kara called into the radio, and waited for a response. The entire team checked in and Kara asked if they had sustained any damages. There was a short pause and they responded that none of them had taken any heavy damage.

"Good. Let's regroup into our convoy and continue onward, we should meet up with our scout shortly before we reach our set up point." Kara said thinking in the back of her mind that Ceom may have accidentally alerted them to their presence and that could lead to the failure of the entire mission.

They needed to get into that bandit compound. A couple of lower class zoids should not be able to stop them anyway. It was strange that there were four zoids that attacked them. Kara could also not forget that her dead-on shots missed twice before she decided to engage in melee combat. Even stranger still was the military's interest in this mission.

Why was this particular mission so important?


	4. Chapter 4

FOUR

1203

Ceom tried to push the throttle in further before locking it in position. His hand flew to the other side of the cockpit controls, before flipping a glass cover upward and pressing two buttons. The heavy jets on the rear of the Sinker erupted into flame. The speed of the zoid increased considerably. The missile, however, was still closing.

"Warning, impact imminent, eject." The computer said.

"I'm not ejecting just yet. Give me a couple of seconds." Ceom slammed more levers down and a gauge's light started flashing. The entire zoid shook as the added power increased the zoid's speed. Ceom was slammed backward even more into his seat. The missile was quickly followed by another spread of missiles from the Dark Horn.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Ceom screamed in outrage at his situation. Even if he evaded this missile there was half a dozen more coming right after this one. He activated his anti missile system and it whirred to life shooting a steady stream of metal out the back of the zoid. The missile was caught in the cloud and it exploded. The next few continued to close in on the Sinker. A blast from the Dark Horn's Bolt Cannon grazed the back end of the zoid and the anti missile system stopped firing. The final few blasts had caught five out of six of the projectiles. There was just one to go, and Ceom had an idea.

Ceom pushed a few buttons and the zoid's holotech system cranked into action. The missile seemed to falter and it fell into the sands. As it slammed into the ground an eruption of flame pushed forward slamming into the Sinker zoid causing it to flip forward and crash into the sand. The missile had detonated close enough to damage the stabilizer controls and the lift engines exploded into action, before literally exploding. The zoid tried to cushion the impact but it was still incredibly jarring.  
"This isn't good." Ceom groaned. He was still strapped into his seat and he was hanging over the canopy window. The computer screen in front of him read 'combat system freeze'. Ceom pressed a few buttons on the right side of the console, the glass flickered and a hazy picture appeared showing the Dark Horn turning and leaving. The picture showed the compound's lights shut down. Shortly afterward several zoids emptied out of the base.  
"That's not good." Ceom said, "Well now that they turned their attention away..." He pressed a button and the booster jets on the rear of the vehicle flared once. The cockpit was raised off the ground and entire zoid settled with the cockpit above the ground. Ceom flipped off the switch and the boosters turned off. After a few seconds of loud buzzing something sparked and the maneuvering controls dimmed. The lights lining the fine tuning controls eventually fizzled and popped. There was a short in that control panel so Ceom unplugged the cords underneath the console as the lights started to go out.

There was about seven feet of distance to fall from the cockpit to the ground. He undid the restraints and he slowly slid onto the glass of the window. Ceom looked upward and pushed a button and then turned a small key in a notch, a small eight inch by ten inch box fell into his hands. It was the zoid's hard drive. It contained everything that he had done earlier. It included his internal diagrams of the target, as well as high resolution images of the outside and main gates.

He reached upward and pushed the button to open the cockpit and he fell out. The short distance was traveled quickly and he crashed into the desert sands. He bent his knees and rolled from the impact to lessen injury. He got up slowly and he found that nothing was broken.

Ceom moved from underneath the sinker zoid and examined the damage to the zoid. There was light burn damage across the entire zoid's hull, but the cloaking system should still work. He walked to the rear of the zoid, inspected the damages, and he found that there was heavy damage to the two engines of the zoid, and the lifting boosters were never going to work again, they needed to be replaced. The expensive scouting equipment was save and undamaged.

Ceom realized that it wasn't too far to the cannon set up point. He could walk over to the crews when they set up the cannon and retrieve his zoid. His mission plan said that the Gustav was going to carry the Ceom's zoid. He had taken the survival kit out of the zoid and he took out one of the MRE's out of the container. He ate about half of the package and closed it up, and placed it back in the kit.

Now he just had to wait.

The roar of the Gustav's treads grinding through the sands alerted Ceom, who woke immediately. Ceom stood up, quickly stretched, and then began to walk toward the convoy. The zoids stopped further ahead and the zoids fanned out further away from the central setup point. Room was needed to setup the cannon and the crews exited their transports. Work on the high-energy phazon cannon began quickly. The setup wouldn't take long, maybe little under half an hour.

The Gustav cart holding Erous –the Trinity Liger–was taken away and placed far behind the cannon. The Gustav pulled along the right side of the massive weapon's cart and began to move pieces around with its massive crane. The assembly was quick and the few workers knew what to do.

Ceom approached the mass of machinery and no one seemed to notice. They were looking for zoids or assembling the weapon. He proceeded to the rear of the convoy and passed the cannon setup point without meeting anyone. As he closed in on his zoid he passed someone who recognized him and the man waved. He replied with a quiet hello before continuing. Erous, Ceom's zoid was only a short distance away. He climbed up the pegs on the front left leg that served as a ladder to the zoid's cockpit. Ceom quickly settled into the seat, pulled the restraints over him, and powered up the zoid his communication panel. He pressed a few keys and sent a quick check-in message to Kara. After the zoid had come online and run a few final checks he had left the Gustav platform. He opened a direct communication link to Kara to tell her what had happened. When the link was established her expression seemed to flicker. She said after a short pause, "Oh, did you forget to check in?"  
"No, I sent it to you." Ceom responded.  
"Ah. I see it now. Welcome back, I will need a full report of course."  
"Yes, the Sinker I was piloting was destroyed, I just barley made it out of there."

Kara looked surprised but she continued, "As I said, I'll need a full report, but it was good to mention that the Sinker was destroyed."

The communication link closed. Ceom sighed. Kara had taken the news well, Ceom thought.


	5. Chapter 5

FIVE

1218

The cannon crews had just begun to unload the stands and smaller parts from the cargo carts the Gustav was pulling. They quickly marked off the area for the cannon supports and internal lifters.

"Why such a large weapon just to blow a hole in the front of this little compound?" Ceom mumbled out loud. He remembered looking at something on the mission report that said something referring to the cannon. He reached for the Sinker zoid's hard drive and after a few minutes he had it rigged up to the Trinity Liger. He downloaded the important information onto Erous's hard drive and opened the mission overview. It listed the main cannon as a beta test. The cannon's main components were to be tested still, and this was the test.

Great. Now Ceom knew to stay away from it when it fired.

Still, this seemed like overkill. This group of raiders has no chance to defeat this team of pilots and zoids. The report also stated that there would be nine zoids in the operation right after it stated that there were ten. This was an odd error.

He walked the zoid so he could see the assembly of the weapon easier. It was shorter than a zoid but large enough to scare someone half to death. The crews had just lowered the main energy conversion chamber and the forward barrel. Now they just need to enclose it in the casing and shoot it. The Gustav and its crane moved the parts out of the storage containers and placed them over the cannon. It was well after dusk now and prime time for a shooting war. The main generators were hooked up and a dusky green glow was visible from the components that were not covered by exterior plating. The tubes and boxes were glowing with power. After a couple of minutes the Gustav came over and placed the barrier and the desert was dark again. Eventually as the parts heated up a soft hum drifted over the sands and was barely audile over the computers and equipment of the Trinity Liger. The light beacon flashed twice over the Gustav and several of the zoids in the convoy moved away. This beacon was the signal for a test. The cannon's hum became a roar and an echoing crescendo of noise erupted from the barrel of the cannon before immediately going silent. The test was a success, now weapon cartridges could now be loaded into the cannon and fired. A signal from the light beacon came flashing across the desert, it signaled the all clear.

The current operation was like another military event that Ceom was involved in about a year ago. It involved this same group of bandits under another leader. That leader's name is still not known, but he has long since been replaced.

A group of bandits had triggered an alert system at one of the out lying supply bases. Ceom and a few other pilots were sent out to investigate. They arrived to find a building with a huge hole blown in it. Inside zoids were being loaded up with huge amounts of heavy zoid weaponry. Ceom and the others quickly leapt for the leader and they slammed into his zoid with a variety of weapons. The zoid backed up and fired its already mounted weaponry quickly taking out one of Ceom's comrades. The Command Wolf that had taken the hit had its leg blown off and the cockpit was instantly blackened. The other Command wolf then lunged forward only to also be shot down. Ceom then charged to the back of the zoid and started to hack at it from behind with his Strike Laser Claw attacks.

The second Command Wolf leapt forward only getting grazed by the last attack and it clawed at the Iron Kong, before slamming two rounds into the belly of the zoid. Ceom finished it with another blow to the back. The zoid creaked and groaned before it toppled forward onto a stack of missiles. Sparks leapt over the fallen zoid and as Ceom and the other Command Wolf turned to follow the others they had dropped everything and ran. Ceom started after one of them, and as he neared one of them a huge shockwave from a blast slammed his zoid to the ground.

Sniper rifle fire was totally inaudible over the roar of the ammunition storage plant erupting into flames. Ceom had quickly shot the zoid furthest away, and it skipped a rotation of its leg and it suddenly collapsed forward. The next zoid managed to escape out of range of the sniper and Ceom pulled his zoid to its feet and turned. The second Command Wolf that had accompanied him was not very far behind him. It had already gotten back up and it was inspecting the supply outpost.

Ceom got the other bandit arrested and he was charged with crimes against the federal government. The leader of the three zoids, which it was latter found that he was the leader of the entire of gang, was killed in the explosion. It was odd that the leader came out to attack a small outpost with only two protectors that ran at the first sign of trouble.

The entire supply building was leveled. There were no extra flames, the explosion was so intense that the gusts of wind that followed extinguished any leftover flames.

The cannon's roaring noise had exploded outward and the crew loaded the first of few ammo canisters into the cannon. The entire desert seemed to glow a dark murky green as a bolt of seemingly-solid matter was ejected from the barrel's front end and it quickly traveled the distance to the bandit outpost. It exploded against the front gate and cracks instantly appeared from the force of the weapon. Another thunderous shot was fired and the entire front side of the compound was enveloped in cracks. The point of impact was nothing more than a pile of ash and dust.

Smoke was the only thing separating them from their goal now. An alarm began its annoying sound, or had it been going since the first impact, one could not tell. As the smoke and dust cleared a large hangar was revealed housing a huge number of zoids.  
"Where did all those come from?" A voice came over the silence after the cannon firings.

"Who knows? Just keep on the look out for targets." Kara's voice came after quickly. As she finished, several loud reports came from the sniper team as they dropped two, three, and then four enemy zoids. Ceom and the other members of the insertion team – these zoids were generally melee zoids – waited until the enemy zoids came close. The enemy base's fixed defenses quickly came online and began to shell the cannon. Alpha team, the group of zoids closest to the cannon quickly backed away from the weapon and they returned fire. One worker on the cannon crew finished loading a last shell before pulling back. The shells exploded around the cannon and the weapon was in the process of firing. A shattering noise loud enough to be heard over the weapon fire came from the fixed cannon. The green glow stopped and dimmed.

The cannon was out of commission.


	6. Chapter 6

SIX

Explosions and weapons fire were the only sounds around Ceom. He turned through the smoke and could see nothing.

"Stay back, keep shelling them!" Kara cried over the radio. Several shots were fired in unison as she said this, their impacts could be felt even in inside the zoid cockpits. Suddenly two zoids charged through the clouds of billowing dust. The first a, Rev Raptor, was shot down in one shot by the sniper team and the second evaded the next barrage of fire. The pilot of this zoid, a Zaber Fang, lunged forward into the front line of zoids and it was taken to the ground. A blast of dirt covered the battle between the two zoids and Ceom turned to see a zoid lunge at him. He couldn't tell what it was, but he backed up firing his Dual Shock Cannon. The zoid was knocked back and caught in an explosion. Ceom pulled his zoid forward and attacked the downed zoid with a Strike Laser Claw. The zoid did not move again.

Another concentrated volley of fire erupted from the base, and over the radio another member of Ceom's team screamed, he must have taken a hit.

"Hold back, just a little more!" Kara called over the roar of battle, "Just another few minutes..."

Out of the smoke ten or more zoids of all different classes rushed forward at the defensive lines. A DiBison, a Shield Liger, two Command Wolves, three Guysacks, and three Rev Raptors rushed toward the lines. Ceom slammed forward carving off several a Guysack's legs in one strike with his claws. It quickly burrowed into the ground and Ceom lost track of it. He turned quickly to his left and he dodged a blaster shot from a Command Wolf. Aiming as he charged Ceom slammed into the wolf zoid and proceeded to attack it with energy-charged claws.

A second Command Wolf emerges onto the scene and attacks Ceom with a barrage of weaponry from his 50mm dual cannons. Ceom, concentrating on his original target, aims once more slamming into the zoid, and finishing it with a blow from the tail blade. The first Command Wolf falls to the ground from the attack, and does not move again. The second Command Wolf aims again and fires a burst of energy from his cannon unit. Ceom takes the hit and a few of his control panels flicker. He re-focuses on the Wolf and charges for the new target firing his Sniper Rifle as he closes in. The hit stuns the zoid and it begins to look a little shaky. Ceom continues forward, and brings Erous's claws down hard on the Wolf. The wolf zoid suddenly pulls back, and fires its cannon unit as it does so. The bullets graze against Erous's armor and the Trinity Liger pushes forward determined to fell as many enemy zoids as possible. The attack finally connects sending down the second Command Wolf.

"Take them! Push forward!" Kara's voice came over the radio. The team pushed into the smoke. Many zoids had fallen in their initial assault so now was a good time to attack. The majority of the military zoids would stay behind as the insertion team charged into the base.

Ceom and two other zoids rushed into the breach in the wall that opened into the hangar. Fallen zoids lay around in the concrete building. Weapon fire from outside was the only thing cutting through the silence of the hangar.

The inside was huge, it looked as though it could store thirty zoids and maybe fifty in a crisis. Concrete blocks had fallen from the ceiling where the Phazon cannon had hit. Cracks ran along the walls. These cracks stopped as the hangar lead to a zoid sized corridor. The ground was covered with lines that marked the spots for zoids. There were about eighteen spots of various sizes. Lights on the walls were flashing and a siren somewhere in the base was blaring every so often. Another blast of weaponry and the explosion occurred in the back of the base. Suddenly the lights flickered and failed. The siren went silent and the auto-turrets stopped their thunders roaring.  
"Turn on your forward lights and let's push forward and take the hangar." Kara ordered.

"Watch out!" Another voice called over the radio. Ceom quickly turned and he saw a missile coming towards the group of zoids he was in. It passed him and it exploded against the wall.

"Attack them!" Kara yelled over the radio. The team of zoids charged back outward and into the fray.

Down under the battle there was a huge cavern. This cavern lay under the base and it stretched out for several miles. It used to be a massive salt mine and the crystals on the walls and ceiling showed this. There was only one solitary light on in the room and it came from a panel on the wall. The dim light flashed and dimmed as explosions sounded above. The light shone across the cavern and caused the crystals to shimmer. This light also showed several containers with clear fluid contained in them there were about four of these empty containers and a fifth that was shattered and fluid was splayed across the ground.

Some distance away, another cluster of five containers stood in the dim light. A shadow moved in the darkness. A thunderous explosion rocked the base.

Another.

Another.

The explosions continued to rain down at a much slower pace now. The light turned from its dusky brown to a deep red crimson. The first cluster of five containers began to drain. Suddenly, as the fluid reached the bottom of the containers the glass began to recede. These capsules now stood entirely empty, a hiss of air and the movement stopped. The light returned to its original dusky brown.

The second set of containers was unaffected by the explosions. The fluid only twitched ever so slightly. A blast rocked the cavern again and small particles of the ceiling cracked off and fell to the ground around the two clusters of containers.

Out of the darkness a shape moved. A long growl came from a large creature as it ambled up to the first set of containers that had emptied. It seemed to view them with disgust. A sudden flash of anger exploded from the beast, and it attacked the top end of one of the canisters with its bladed tail. A crash of metal and it was easily bent under the force as the entire container crashed to the ground.

**A/N: **I'm sorry, but that is all I have for you. I had planned on fifteen chapters for this all about 1,200 words each, but it ever came to fruition. I still have the outline actually however I doubt that I will continue this. I'm working on something else in terms of fan fiction right now actually and I really have no idea if it will ever make it up here.


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